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Make Health An Effortless Part Of Your Lifestyle

Everyone wants to be healthy and happy, but many people go about it the wrong way. Instead of focusing on making health into a natural and effortless part of their every-day lifestyle, they try to use sheer willpower to force themselves through different, painful practices that they’ll sooner or later be tempted to quit.

But people are driven more by habit than by incredible efforts of will. Here’s a look at how to introduce some good, healthy habits into your life starting today.

Get physically active every day

Setting yourself the goal of spending an hour in the gym every day may work for a while, but there’ll be the inevitable day when you find yourself too busy, too tired, or just too distracted to follow through.

Instead of setting yourself a specific exercise goal, set yourself the goal of being physically active every day. This can mean anything from taking a short walk to jogging on the spot to going to the gym for 3 hours or running a marathon — though if you’re running a lot, you might want to click here for some good anti-blister supplies.

The key is that it’s an easy habit to stick with every day, even when you don’t feel like it. Being physically active in one way will also make you feel motivated to be more physically active in general.

Prepare all your food from scratch

People argue a lot about different diet styles, and which one might be the best. One thing that all experts and scientists agree on, though, is that processed food is by and large terribly unhealthy, filled with potentially harmful additives, and at the heart of many modern health problems.

An excellent health-habit is to cut out all processed foods — anything you buy “ready-made” — and to prepare all your own food from scratch. That way you’ll know whether or not there’s a teaspoon of sugar in your dish, instead of being tricked into eating large amounts of toxic high-fructose corn syrup.

Eat foods that leave you feeling energetic

Energy is one of the most important things for good overall health, because the more energetic we feel, the more active we’re likely to be, physically and mentally, and the happier as well.

If you find that you’re always falling asleep right after each meal, this not only means that you probably struggle to be productive and positive each day, but it also means that your food is too heavy on your body and is taking a lot of energy to digest.

Save the heavy meals for special occasions, and try to eat foods that leave you feeling energetic on a daily basis, instead of ones that seem to drain your energy.

Read something uplifting every day

The mind is just as important as the body when it comes to health, and like the body, the mind is affected by the kind of “fuel” we give it.

While the body is fuelled by food and drink, the mind is fuelled by the things you read, say, watch, and hear.

If you want to promote healthy, positive and happy thoughts, it’s essential that you give your mind something positive to reflect on every day. A great place to start is by reading something uplifting every day. This could be an upbeat fable or a real-life story of someone succeeding against the odds.

Great Article and Good Health Advice. Since I don’t drive I do lots of walking especially if I have the day off I walk and take photos. My Soulful Struts. Not too good with the preparing food from scratch nor do I like to cook. I work weird hours but I’m continuing with the Juicing, I’ve incorporated more fruits and veggies plus salads. I also take Holistic Food Supplements. I did notice that when I was off for two weeks back in May and I did mostly raw foods, salads, juices and kept up with my vitamins I really did feel energized! The change was amazing!

I don’t have much choice with the cooking aspect – with hungry children and dear husband – since I can’t afford too many take outs, it’s got to be cooked by yours truly. I am working at my raw foods and juicing more than ever these days 🙂

I also have food allergies so I avoid dairy except yogurt, gluten, excess salt & sugar. Having gone through Menopause I can truly say that my body changed radically plus I have high blood pressure and I also avoid fast food restaurants. They put way too much salt in their food. I get headaches when I eat some of it.

I would have to have someone prepare my food, if I required everything to be prepared from scratch and I would be eating way too late. But I do believe in working out when I can and walking up the stairs instead of using the elevator. I basically have a rebuilt ankle due to an old ankle injury so I don’t run. And I love salads although sometimes the salad bars aren’t up to my standards, lol.

What I do is on Saturday or Sunday I prepare batches of stuff – like casserole, sauce and refrigerate them for the following week. I can’t afford to eat out all week or shop bought food for the family – that’s way too expensive for my budget 😉

We always feel better, have more energy when I cook…so I do it all the time. My sister had a great idea…does home cooking for the week on Sunday, freezes the meals in portions for quick re-heat during the week. Better than convenience foods. Always great tips here, J.

I really need to get back on track with my lifestyle. I’ve spiraled out of control over the last few months. I do like reading positive things everyday, I try to be upbeat and happy (on the outside, sever anxiety tries to cripple me) because the world is already so full of negativity.

I find it really hard to stick to a disciplined routine at the moment – it’s amazing how quickly life gets in the way! I’ve recently started walking or running in my lunch hour and it’s amazing how quickly things improve! Still need to work on the healthy eating though…

Andrew, you can say that again about life getting in the way, but I’m learning to snatch time when I can. Great idea to use your lunch hour proactively. I love that. Thank you, for taking the time to read and comment.

Awww this is a great post! And so true! I’ve tried time and again to be healthy and I almost always burn out. But this past year, instead of feeling bad for not “working out” one day, I’ve just made sure I hit a certain amount of steps. I got an Apple Watch and it really makes such a difference for me to stay motivated and moving!

You’ve got it together. I think we guilt trip a lot when we fall behind but with such a positive attitude and pragmatic approach, one can still stick to one’s goals. Thank you, Jasmine for taking the time to read and comment 🙂

Agreed ! As long as you use natural ingredients and cook from scratch, you can go to wrong. Look at our ancestors for example, cooked simply and naturally and were much leaner and healthier. Thank you 🙂

Cooking from scratch is not easy I must say. I’ve had to do this virtually every other day and no matter how much I try to streamline things to make it easier, it’s still not easy balancing it all. Thanks for reading and commenting Tatiana.

You outlined a healthy lifestyle perfectly. Knowing what all is in your food by cooking from scratch is key and choosing which healthy ingredients to go into it. Being active is great for well-being and longevity and reading and being a positive person goes hand in hand with overall well-being.

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A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.